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After a year of tapping into a well of miracle finishes, the Calgary Stampeders finally reached the bottom and couldn’t find one more when they truly needed it.

Outplayed and outschemed, the Stampeders’ trip to the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto will be remembered, ultimately, as a disappointment that overshadowed a splendid regular season during which they overcame obstacle after obstacle.

But not on Sunday. The Stamps shot themselves in the foot, repeatedly, with penalties and turnovers and were flattered by the result, a 35-22 win by the Toronto Argonauts in front of a Rogers Centre crowd of 53,208.

It’s the Argos’ first Grey Cup triumph since 2004, and their record 16th overall — not to mention their sixth straight win (including regular season) over the Stampeders.

“It is very disappointing,” said Stamps quarterback Kevin Glenn in a deathly quiet Calgary locker-room. “The tough part is that you go from so high one week to so low the next week. Very emotional right now. There’s a lot of negative energy from this loss. But we have to find a buffer, we have to find something to think about to not feel like this — be blessed, be grateful that we got to this point. We just have to know next time that we have to play better.”

After two steady playoff performances in which the Stamps were able to hold onto the football and keep flags in the officials’ pockets, they managed neither on Sunday. Two first-half turnovers led to Argo touchdowns, and in the second, what would have been a momentum-shifting 105-yard kick-return touchdown from Larry Taylor was negated by a Keon Raymond holding penalty.

It was that kind of night; the Stamps took 99 yards in penalties, which, combined with the Stamps’ inability to move the ball consistently, proved costly.“We couldn’t get on track early on and that killed us,” said Stamps coach and GM John Hufnagel.

“We made a couple mistakes and they were able to capitalize on it. When we tried to fight back and make some plays, we stalled. We needed to score more touchdowns. They didn’t have to all be touchdowns, but four field goals isn’t going to get it done. I didn’t see it coming and I don’t think the players saw it coming.”

Any glimmer of a comeback — Calgary had cut the lead to 13 points with around seven minutes to play in the game — were snuffed out by a play that was all too typical of an undisciplined evening. A 15-yard no-yards flag for Keenan MacDougall piled on a Derrius Brooks late hit penalty moved the ball 30 yards downfield, and two plays later, the coup de grace was delivered — a seven-yard Ricky Ray to Andre Durie touchdown pass.

Argos running back Chad Kackert — briefly a Stampeder in 2010 — was named the game’s MVP, rushing for 133 yards and making eight catches for 62 yards.

“I’m just a little in shock right now. Everything was going well. I just think they were a little bit more effective and prepared for the game. This will sting a lot. A long time. I can’t believe this (bleep). I really thought we were going in with momentum and we were going to win. But apparently things happen.”

It was two Stampeder turnovers in the first half — a Jon Cornish fumble and a Glenn pick-six that led directly to touchdowns (the latter a Pacino Horne 25-yard touchdown return, the former leading to a drive that was capped by Ricky Ray’s five-yard touchdown pass to Chad Owens) — that would ultimately prove the most costly.

“We just didn’t make enough big plays,” said slotback Nik Lewis, who caught six balls for 100 yards. “We were aggressive coming in, I felt like we were aggressive today — we just didn’t make the big plays and they did a great job of taking them away. Losses happen. This is the eighth time I’ve lost (in the playoffs). I mean, I felt worse in 2010 than I do right now. 72 guys (who dressed for the Stamps this season because of injuries) stepped up and played. To make it to this point was great.”

Rene Paredes would kick four field goals and the Stamps would add a late touchdown, Bo Levi Mitchell in mop-up duty to Maurice Price, but the damage had been done.

Glenn finished the night 14-for-27 for 222 yards and the interception; Cornish rushed for 57 yards against an inspired Toronto defence.

“Second in the league, losing the Grey Cup, that’s probably as good a result as you could hope for with this many injuries,” said Cornish.

“I’m pretty rational. At the end of the day, we’re all healthy, nobody died — I still get a Grey Cup cheque, half what I would have gotten. There are positives to the negative.”

Argos backup Jarious Jackson accounted for the other touchdown, hooking up with Dontrelle Inman on a five-yard major.

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